Verizon Galaxy S III with Unlockable Bootloader Coming Soon

Samsung’s latest Galaxy S III variant has shown up on Samsung’s website today with a tag line that confirms that the device will be made available to customers soon. How soon remains to be seen.

The device Galaxy S III Developer Edition will be the exact same device as the model that is currently found in the United States with the exception of one feature which is the device’s unlockable bootloader.

An unlockable bootloader will allow users to customize the device to their hearts content. The Galaxy S III that is currently found on Verizon does not have an unlockable bootloader nor will it ever have one. Verizon confirmed the bad news today saying that it won’t unlock the Galaxy S III bootloader with a software update.

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This means that those who wish to own a Galaxy S III on Verizon with an unlockable bootloader must purchase the Galaxy S III Developer Edition which will come with a $599 price tag attached to it.

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Besides the price tag, Samsung and Verizon won’t be offering any sort of warranty with the phone. This means that if something happens when flashing a ROM, owners will be on their own.

So, those who wish to customize their device completely, will have to pay a $600 premium for the privilege to do so, something that seems ridiculous considering the Galaxy S III devices on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular all have unlocked bootloaders out of the box.

Verizon has said that the reason they are locking the bootloader on the Galaxy S III is because an unlocked bootloader would allow users to modify their phone, something that might adversely affect its cellular network or not allow the carrier to provide good customer service.

3 Responses

You really should have tested the actual Verizon model – I’ve confirmed with the Verizon tech department (won’t ever buy another Android phone without doing so first every time), that the Verizon SIII has some serious issues. First – the phone will loose all customized app locations on the screens every time you power it off – I travel a lot by plane – that’s a deal breaker alone. Second – there are huge issues with the wi-fi. They said – once you connect to a wi-fi router and then disconnect, you can not re-connect to that router without deleting the device first from the router device table and then reconnecting.

@Jesse: I have been using the S3 since its launch date earlier this month, and none of the above is true.

1. I have flown 3 times since then and have otherwise turned my phone off multiple times, taken battery off (just to look inside, etc.) and when I turn it back on, it goes back to the way it was. I dont know how or why the VZW tech team said this

2. The wifi routinely recognizes and automatically checks into known wifi networks such as home, work and even at friends’ places and restaurants and switches off 4G once it does so. I sometimes have problems when going from one building to the next on the same wifi (I work in a University campus that spans thousands of acres, all on the same wifi with multiple access points) but will reconnect in a matter of seconds. iOS faced same issues and reconnect mus an order of magnitude slower.

That being said, the s3 did freeze on me once in the last couple of weeks (iOS freezes too) while in an app. However, task manager worked and I could kill the app process! No other issues so far, better experience than the iPhone 4 I switched from, but it’s only been ~2 weeks.